Want to Boost Your Fertility? Cut Back on Coffee and Eat More Fruit

To enhance male fertility during IVF treatments and for couples trying to naturally conceive, a new study suggests men eat a diet high in fruit and grains and low in coffee, alcohol, and red meat.

The Brazilian study looked at 250 men undergoing a type of fertility treatment with their partners known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, an in vitro fertilization procedure in which a single sperm is injected into an egg.

Researchers discovered that men who drank alcohol and coffee and ate a poor diet were less likely to conceive. Being overweight also contributed to lower sperm concentration and motility, and smoking affected sperm motility.

Photo: janetkwest

“In contrast, eating more cereal grains was associated with improved sperm concentration and motility,” writes American health publication Third Age on the study on Tuesday. “Fruit was linked to a speed and agility boost in sperm.”

The study, from the Fertility-Assisted Fertilization Center in Sao Paolo, was published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility on November 11.

Another recent Harvard University study found that a diet of trans-fat laden junk food can render otherwise healthy young men infertile.